LEGENDARY French chef Raymond Blanc could be bringing his famous brand of Gallic cuisine to Cardiff.

His restaurant chain Brasserie Blanc is said to be interested in opening its first Welsh eaterie in the former Ebenezer Church in the city centre.

An architect, planning to transform the redundant Grade II listed 19th-century church on Charles Street into two separate restaurants and offices, has been in discussions with Blanc’s company to bring the chain to Wales’ capital.

The Gothic-style Ebenezer Church on Charles Street was opened in 1855 as the Charles Street Congregational Church.

Designed by RG Thomas, of Newport, it became the Ebenezer Church when the original building on Ebenezer Street was demolished in 1978 to make way for the original St David’s shopping centre.

John Wotton Architects has told the council in its application for full planning permission that the redundant church has fallen into a state of disrepair and the renovation will cost about £400,000.

Cardiff council has asked the applicant to also contribute £50,000 to the cost of public realm improvements in the Charles Street Conservation Area around the church, but the planning report states the amount requested is considered “unreasonable” by the applicant, who believes it would make the project “unviable”.

John Wotton Architects has instead undertaken to spend £25,000 on upgrading the area around the building and planning officers have recommended that approval be given subject to reaching agreement on the public realm enhancement.

Food writer and food school owner Angela Gray told the Echo: “It’s great news that Raymond Blanc could be coming to Cardiff.

“It’s nice to see that Jamie Oliver has put local produce like Welsh lamb on the menu in his Cardiff restaurant and I know Raymond Blanc would do the same. I think he will go out of his way to use local produce.”

Michelin-starred chef Raymond Blanc, 60, who has lived in Britain for more than 30 years, has been the star of numerous television cookery shows including Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets, which aired on BBC Two earlier this year.

According to the Brasserie Blanc website, he learned to cook at home in Besancon in eastern France, where his mother insisted on using fresh, local and seasonal produce, a philosophy which has shaped the menus in his brasserie chain and also Le Manoir Aux Qua’Saisons, his restaurant and hotel in Oxfordshire.

He describes his Brasserie Blanc chain as the lively “can can” dance to the delicate waltz of his Michelin-starred flagship diner.

No-one at John Wotton Architects or Brasserie Blanc could be contacted for comment.